Kate serves up royal glamour at Wimbledon for women's final

Glasgow Times

a day ago

Kate, who is patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, will present the trophy on Centre Court to the winner of the match between Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek on Saturday.
Ahead of the final, the princess, wearing a white belted jacket and pleated skirt, met the winner of the ladies' wheelchair final, Wang Ziying.
Accompanied by All England Club chairwoman Deborah Jevans, she also met 12-year-old Sophie Kneen, who is due to perform the coin toss at the ladies' final, and eight-year-old Lydia Lowe, who did the same at the ladies' wheelchair final.
The Princess of Wales meeting Lydia Lowe, eight (Jordan Pettitt/pa)
Kate, who donned a bow-shaped brooch in the Wimbledon colours of purple and green, also spoke with Jefferson Iweh, a ticket sales operator; Bob Flint, an honorary steward; and Wimbledon foundation host Shaniah Williams.
Last year, the princess presented the Wimbledon men's final trophy to Carlos Alcaraz, in her second public engagement since she announced her cancer diagnosis.
The Princess of Wales's parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, were seen in the Royal Box on Monday, with the Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duchess of Gloucester also in attendance.
The Queen told tennis star Novak Djokovic that she was keeping her 'fingers crossed' as she visited Wimbledon on Wednesday.
The Princess of Wales with AELTC chairwoman Debbie Jevans (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
The Princess Royal's son Peter Phillips attended the championships on Wednesday, with Hugh Grant and former prime minister Sir John Major also in the Royal Box.
Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah, former footballer Ian Wright and Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins were among the notable names to attend a hot day at Wimbledon on Saturday.
Temperatures are forecast to peak at around 30C and fall short of a record for a women's singles final day, with 31.2C having been recorded on the day of the 1976 final between Chris Evert and Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said: 'There will be blue skies at Wimbledon throughout the day, so it will feel hot, with very high UV levels and a light wind.
'There might be a little bit more cloud around tomorrow, making it a degree lower.'
Carlos Alcaraz is presented with the trophy by the Princess of Wales after victory in 2024 (Aaron Chown/PA)
The men's singles semi-final on Friday between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz was stopped twice in less than five minutes because of crowd emergencies, amid temperatures of 32C on Centre Court.
Three fans also needed attention on Centre Court on Thursday in similarly hot conditions.
The men's singles final on Sunday, with highs of 29C predicted, is unlikely to break the record of the warmest closing day on record of 34.1C recorded on July 3 1976.
The extreme heat during the 1976 tournament prompted organisers to allow umpires to remove their jackets.
Wimbledon has said the heat rule will apply for all singles events for players, which allows for a 10-minute break when the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is at or above 30.1C.
The rule will apply after the second set for all best-of-three-set matches, and after the third set for all best-of-five-set matches.
Players may leave the court during the break, but they may not receive coaching or medical treatment.